Chapter 12

Joe awoke to an empty bed. Getting up, Lindy greeted him with a smile and a kiss, her suffering his morning breath. “Henry will be here any second,” she explained.

He nodded. “You okay?”

“A little sore, both holes,” she chuckled. “But I took a bath and that helped.”

“Sorry I couldn’t join you.”

“Me too, but I didn’t really have the time to enjoy that, and you looked so content.”

Henry was the elephant in the room, but somehow both knew he’d be his professional self. Henry’s knock didn’t end those thoughts. “Just a second, Henry,” Joe yelled, uncouthly drinking from the spout of a half-gallon of orange juice before pulling Lindy into his arms for a lengthy kiss. “Ready?” he asked after.

“Now I am,” she laughed.

Grabbing her shoulder bag, she slipped out the door so Henry had no view inside and went off with her director.

Calling Mary, Joe asked if she needed anything.

“MacDonald’s breakfast sandwich?”

Stifling a chuckle she wouldn’t understand, he told her he’d be there in less than an hour.

He met her at the back of her and Stuart’s new apartment building, actually an old mansion built in the twenties repurposed for housing mostly UCLA students. With school out except summer school, the apartment became available. It ended up being a nice, fairly roomy two bedroom, the second bedroom a shared office.

“Where’s Dave?” Joe asked.

“Shacking up with that singer.”

“How do you know?”

“He told me when I heard her voice in the background.”

“Sorry about Beth.”

“She had no illusions.”

“Understandable.”

Borrowing a hand trolley, he hauled up several boxes. Dave really wasn’t needed. Joe mostly ended up being her company and pack mule when they went out to buy household items. She bought him lunch as payment. When they returned he helped her sort things until Lindy called.

“Stuart should be home soon,” Mary said. “I guess I’ll order pizza.”

“Let me take care of that,” Joe said.

“Stuart and I like Hawaiian pizza.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll pry Dave out of his new girlfriend.”

They laughed. Mary might have been a frumpy nerd, but she could be irreverent and hilarious, probably just what Stuart needed.

The meeting went well, beginning with Stuart welcoming Lindy back into their fold. Joe handed out the scripts for the animation of his comics, and they read through the new version of the sort of promo animation for Henry’s and Joe’s movie.

It went well even with Dave’s obsessive promotion of the band they’d seen, actually part of the band, with Dave taking over keyboards from Tom and putting both Johnny and Kate up front, Kate the singer, Johnny for her songs and Kate for Dave’s new ones. “I’m thinking they’d be like a thread to all the animation,” he promoted.

“What about the lead guitarist?” Joe asked.

“I don’t think Kate would mind jettisoning him as well. Maybe another girl?”

“An ex-lover of Kate’s?” Joe guessed.

“She didn’t say,” Dave grimaced slightly.

“Personally I liked the balance of guys to girls,” Joe opined. “And I thought his leads added a lot, even with Johnny’s songs.”

“I’m not playing that spacey shit.”

“Personally I liked the stoner vibe,” Joe shook his head. “With the funk base, literally and figuratively, it could easily become some slick disco thing or at best derivative of P-Funk, and even that, a white faced version. I think you should talk to Johnny before deciding, because I think she’d be the deciding force, a force to be reckoned with, and not the pretty lead singer.”

“Fuck you.”

“Just get your head out of your balls, Dave.”

“Whatever.”

Which, though mumbled and tense, Joe thought a good sign. Ideally he’d prefer the band as is, including Tom on keyboard, with Dave doing what he did best, soundtrack music.

“You know Henry wants me to write a scene for the film with the band playing,” Joe informed them, “And I really like the idea, how they look and what they play, even if it might have come out of his lust for his Ariel.”

“The girl in pigtails,” Stuart nodded.

It might have come off as lust on Stuart’s part, but the chance of him cheating on Mary was slim to none, and Mary knew it. Joe had seen the lust in Stuart’s heart or loins since adolescence, unrequited until Mary, his shy, surreptitious glances perhaps only detectable by Joe had nevertheless been common, and hadn’t really gone away. In fact Joe caught those glances still directed at Lindy, Stuart’s attraction to her one the reasons he wanted her to stick with them, although to be fair it was mostly her remarkable voice talent. Joe could hardly blame Stuart for the glances, since she still stirred his loins.

“So maybe keep from breaking up the band until they’re filmed?” Joe suggested.

“Whatever.”

Joe decided he might need to get more involved, maybe talk to Johnny. He figured Henry might not be the best person to keep things intact. Something about the way Brit had kept calling him Chubby suggested more than his thick appearance, but of an intimate knowledge of his beer can cock. Whether Henry had another chance with the cute blonde Joe very much doubted. Too playful and at the same time subtly defensive around Henry, and the way she teased the mechanic while obviously intimate with Johnny, who definitely gave off a lesbian vibe, checking out Lindy for instance instead of Joe, made for a confusing scenario which Joe could only resolve by Brit being bi and Johnny letting her be, and even being amused by it. Whatever the dynamic, Joe could see the two were a couple, and any men involved would probably only last a night if that.

When the meeting broke up, Joe told Lindy his idea. “Call Henry and get Johnny’s number.”

“Or I could wait.”

Lindy laughed. “Yes, he’s an asshole but you’re still working with him. And I’m sure she’s a creature of the night.”

“You’re right of course.”

Henry gave Joe Johnny’s number after Joe told him he might want to watch a rehearsal. When he called her and the call went to voice mail nearly right away, he decided to text her instead, a brief note about who he was and that he wrote the movie and Henry was interested in the band being in it.

He heard her high gruff growl soon after. “Can we meet, or do you want to talk on the phone?” he asked her.

“Let’s meet,” and she ended the call, texting him an address, which ended up in Hollywood, a suburban looking home.

Two SUVs took up the driveway so Joe parked on the street and he and Lindy walked to the attached garage and Joe knocked on the garage door as Johnny instructed. The door opened and Joe noticed the walls padded for noise diminution he figured since the band’s instruments were all there, at least the larger ones. Johnny sat on an old red velvet love seat, acoustic guitar in her lap and Brit smiling beside her.

“Pull up a couple chairs,” Johnny growled.

As they did, moving the wooden chairs over the old worn carpet in front of the couple, Joe asked, “The rest of the band?”

“My brother’s out cruising,” said Brit. “Welcome to my home, Cutie.”

“Joe’s fine,” Joe chuckled.

“Yes you are,” Brit giggled.

“Don’t mind my girlfriend,” Johnny explained. “She’s always on the prowl for cock.”

“Good to know.”

“You wanted to talk?”

“What’s the status of the band?”

Johnny laughed. “Right to it then.”

“You seem to expect nothing less.”

“True. The status. Trouble in paradise, no thanks to Henry.”

“Tell me about what Henry did in a second, but otherwise?”

“There’s the slut Kate presently fucking your friend last I heard.”

“Dave,” Joe nodded. “Slut meaning...”

“Meaning it won’t last, and I hope he wears protection.”

“What else has Kate done?”

“Fucked her way through the band,” Brit said, “Including stomping on my brother’s heart and then fucking Gary.”

“The lead guitarist.”

“Yeah.”

“Definitely sounds destabilizing.”

“They got over it and are finally fucking each other.”

“Not destabilizing?”

“They’re finally out of the closet together, so no, I don’t think so.”

“Tell me about Henry.”

“Tom’s cagey, maybe worried, but I think Henry bribed him to let me do my songs, not that I’m complaining,” Johnny stated.

“Why should he be worried?”

“Because Johanna’s a better songwriter,” Brit answered, “And a better singer than Kate. And definitely the most charismatic.”

“I agree,” Joe said. “So it’s a matter of Tom stuffing his ego away.”

“Yeah,” Johnny nodded.

“And what if he wasn’t there? If it was really your band?”

“If we lost Tom, we’d lose Gary. And I like the juxtaposition of their trippy shit with my driving bass.”

“I couldn’t agree more. What about Kate? She sounds like the biggest troublemaker.”

“Who’d have thought?” Johnny laughed. “I’m the one who always kicks against the pricks.”

“Literally,” Brit laughed too.

Joe couldn’t help cringing which made the two laugh harder, infecting Lindy and eventually Joe.

“Shit, you guys want to get high?” Johnny asked.

“Sure,” both Joe and Lindy agreed.

Johnny stubbed out her cigarette on a precarious ashtray and pulled out a joint from her shirt pocket, the lighter flipped open and lit, getting the tip of the fat doobie burning. She passed it to Joe, whose inhalation delayed the conversation until Johnny broke the quiet.

“Kate’s a bit of a cunt...”

“Literally,” Brit added.

“Yeah. But I like the way she shouts and again there’s the juxtaposition of the pretty doll and the tough dyke.”

“Not to mention the eye candy,” Brit added.

“I like the look and I like the sound,” Joe agreed. “I definitely see what Henry wants. You think Tom can quash his ego?”

“He still has the majority of the songs.”

“But there was a set within a set, yours being at the climax of the performance.”

“There is that,” Johnny agreed.

“What if there were like two bands in one?” Brit suggested. “Tom could have maybe a longer first set featuring Kate the cunt, and then Johanna could take over.”

“You have enough songs for a set?” Joe asked.

“Definitely.”

“And not the other way around?”

After a brief contemplation, all but Lindy decided, “Nope.” Lindy’s opinion had been clouded by inebriation at the show.

“Okay, so there’s a couple problems,” Joe presented.

“My brother getting his head out of his ass,” Brit muttered.

“That’s one. The other is my dickhead friend Dave.”

“What’s going on?” Johnny leaned forward against her guitar.

“Let me explain who Dave is. He and my friend Stuart have been partners with me for a while creating video games.”

“Which ones?” Brit asked, excited.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard of them.”

“Brit’s an aficionado,” Johnny chuckled.

Joe listed them and Brit got more excited. “God I love those last two,” and she started rushing off.

“Brit?”

“He’s got to sign the boxes,” and she rushed into the house.

“Go on Joe,” Johnny shook her head, amused at her energy bunny girlfriend.

“Yeah so I basically write the games and Stuart engineers them and Dave does the music and works the vocal synthesizer.”

“And Joe and I do the voices,” Lindy filled in.

“Lindy’s an amazing voice artist,” Joe smiled.

“Dave does the music,” Johnny growled, starting to get it. “And he’s fucking Kate as we speak.”

“Yep.”

“Fucking cunt. I heard his shit on the keyboards when we jammed.”

“I know,” Joe sighed. “Like I said he can be a dickhead. And since Henry’s hiring him to do the score for the movie, his little head is getting even bigger.”

“Fuck. If he fucks with the band, Henry can go fuck himself.”

“That’s why I’m here, Johnny. Well mostly. I also would like to see you guys play some more, maybe a showcase?”

“If you can set it up, we’ll be there.”

“Cool.”

“And call me Johanna.”

“Really?”

“You seem like a good guy, and not your usual asshole.”

“He is,” Lindy grinned.

“And you’re hot,” Johanna smirked at Lindy. “If I weren’t with Brit...”

“What about me?” Brit asked, bursting into the garage with three video game boxes and a felt tipped pen.

“I was telling Lindy I’d love to fuck her.”

“But you wouldn’t,” Brit pouted.

“Nope.” Johanna pulled her into the seat beside her and gave her a vigorous kiss.

“Oh okay,” Brit cutely murmered after. “So you’re like the writer?” she asked, handing Joe the boxes and the pen.

“That and the voices,” said Lindy. “Me too. I mean I did the vocal work.”

“Then you should definitely sign them too!”

“Just two of these actually.”

She and Brit shrugged and Lindy didn’t sign the one she wasn’t on.

“Not the best one anyway,” Brit pronounced.

“I agree. They sort of fucked it up,” Joe told her. “It made us decide to take more control of our submissions.”

“Good choice,” Brit grinned.

“So you were saying?” Johanna prompted.

“About Dave,” Joe remembered. “I think you’re going to have to thrash it out with Tom about both things. It’s going to have to be a united front with the two strongest in the band basically making an ultimatum.”

“Either we’re together or we’re gone.”

“Yep.”

“Maybe you could help?”

“How?”

“Be our manager?”

“Uhm I’m pretty busy with ... Fuck it, how much time would it take? But I’d need your help.”

“In what way?”

“I’m a stranger here. I need to know the clubs and especially those you’d like to play. For one, where we could showcase you.”

“Hollywood High!” Brit exclaimed. “I have an inside!”

“You mean you blew an inside,” Johanna smirked.

“So I give the slimeball a second shot?”

“I’ll pass, or give you a pass.”

“Or we just ask the slimeball,” Joe suggested.

“Worth a try,” Brit shrugged.

“When should we meet with Tom?” Joe asked.

“How about now?” Johanna responded, pulling out her smartphone.

“He’s not busy?”

“He’s cruising so not busy.”

Ten minutes later Tom and Gary arrived, Johanna playing a couple of cool songs during the wait.

“Just listen to Joe,” Johanna demanded.

“Okay,” Tom nodded.

Joe did his spiel and found Tom surprisingly receptive.

“I get I’ve been a dick, Johnny,” Tom confessed. “If you want, I bow to your command.”

“No! That’s not the point Tom,” Johnny growled. “We’re co-conspirators of the Conspiracy.” The Conspiracy being the name of the band.

“I’m thinking, getting more ambitious,” Joe said, “that maybe you do a split single and a split album, each getting their own side.”

“And that’s why I think Joe should be our manager,” Johanna offered. “But...”

“Sounds good,” Tom said, lifting his hand for Joe to shake. “But please don’t rob us.”

“Believe me, it’s not mercenary, and I was even reluctant.”

“For half a second,” Johanna laughed.

“True.”

“That’s what they all say,” Gary chimed in.

“He’s reluctant however briefly,” Lindy explained, “because he has revenue from three streams: comics, animation and a major film script, all of which are in process, thus all of which he’s working on and getting paid for.”

“Not to mention games,” Joe added. “Although that’s in hiatus for now, and a lot of the work has been done on my other things, so yeah I’m not going to be cheating you out of your money, and I think I’ll actually have the time to do the work.”

“We should give him an equal split like we pay us band members, like we pay the sound guy,” Johanna offered.

“Only the gigs he sets up,” Gary argued.

“And how many gigs do we have now?” Johanna pointed out.

“Uhm, none? But I thought you guys wanted to have like a summer vacation.”

“Grow up Gary!” Brit exclaimed. “I’m the only one in school, thankfully for one last useless week. You’re about to get spotlighted in a fucking Hollywood movie! It’s about time you get your shit noticed beyond our local fans and a few kids in the Valley!”